[mopar56]

my son has a 99 dakota 5.2 litre, he has done just a few mild upgrades, (exhuast and intake) and now is considering a throttle body upgrade, so the question is has anyone tried one of these spacers like an airaid or transdapt etc?, are they worth installing?, seems like a simple principle to help swirl the air, also they make upgraded throttle bodys but they of course are a lot more, his current one works fine so reluctent to change that, thanks

 

[ImperialCrown]

I tried one years ago and didn't really notice any difference. The theory is there to support a small hp increase, but nearly none of my driving is done at wide-open throttle.
If it is cheap enough he could try it, but it is mostly marketing hype about the improvements and gains from swirling the intake air. He already has the tuned-runner, tall Magnum intake manifold.
Watch for air horn-to-hood clearance if raising the throttle body height.
http://www.aa1car.com/library/gas805.htm

 

[AC TC]

Its swirling the air at the wrong place.
What intake?
If its the keg there isnt any need for more plenum volume.

 

[chuzz]

He might as well waste his money on a "tornado". Same principal and no noticeable improvement in horsepower nor mpg.

 

[mopar56]

ok thanks thats kinda what I thought to, I thought someone would have tried one, and it seems there was little difference, they arnt very expensive, there is also performance throttle body assemblys available, I think holley or maybe edlebrok dose one, they are a lot more money and it seems there would possibly be some real gains there?, anyone tried one?

 

[Bob Lincoln]

You want laminar (straight) airflow BEFORE the fuel is mixed in, and some turbulence AFTER the fuel is mixed. That's why spacers are more of a gimmick than anything.

Adding more airflow capability in the throttle body without any other mods really does little. You would also need to improve intake and exhaust flow.

 

[TWX]

Tunnelram intakes were popular, back when the carburetor as a fuel source was located upstream of the tunnelram intake.

 

[mopar56]

well it seems this too would also be a waste of time and money however Bob you mentioned that the throttle body would make little difference unless mods were done to the intake and exhaust, this truck dose have a magnaflow 3" dual exhaust and a full airaid intake system, would that be enough or are you talking about replaceing the intake manifold to something different, I didnt realize there were different intake options for injection?, and I wonder if the throttle body upgrade would improve airflow or just aid in dumping in more fuel?

 

[AC TC]

The stock kegger intake wont support any more revs so its
basically useless for tuning if you want big improvments.
Fastman is my first thought for trottlebodies.

 

[Bob Lincoln]

well it seems this too would also be a waste of time and money however Bob you mentioned that the throttle body would make little difference unless mods were done to the intake and exhaust, this truck dose have a magnaflow 3" dual exhaust and a full airaid intake system, would that be enough or are you talking about replaceing the intake manifold to something different, I didnt realize there were different intake options for injection?, and I wonder if the throttle body upgrade would improve airflow or just aid in dumping in more fuel?

I'm saying you would need to port and polish intake and exhaust on the heads, maybe change the intake and exhaust manifolds. Those will still be choke points. And the computer will simply compensate for the extra air by adding more fuel and killing your gas mileage.

 

[mopar56]

well thanks for the help again, guess we will stick with what he has as we wernt looking to go too drastic, this truck is just the daily driver his 80 Dodge is the toy so I think we will concentrate our performance energy on that especially since it seems any more mods done on the 99 from this point forward will end up consuming more fuel which is what we dont want on a daily driver, thanks